TheKoketso SachaneShow

The use of violence to disintegrate movements is still a common occurrence, according to Political analyst Lukhona Mnguni and Associate Professor at Rhodes University, Richard Pithouse.

Last week, Former ANC Youth League secretary general Sindiso Magaqa died after succumbing to gun shot wounds.

Magaqa and two other councillors were shot and wounded in an ambush in southern KwaZulu-Natal in July.

They were at a shop in a village outside Umzimkhulu when the incident happened.

Magaqa was one of the key witnesses in an investigation by the Hawks, into political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.

Referring to factions in local government elections in 2011, Mnguni says the political targeting of individuals stems from a problem of inconsistency in the processes of the ANC.

There is no letter that is followed o everything is open to manipulation...2011 that is when I think I started saying this is a big thing.

— Lukhona Mnguni, political analyst

Pithouse says violence has become normalised as an everyday political strategy especially in Kwazulu Natal.

It is not just about the particular case where one individual is killed to remove them from a situation, its a fact also that violence has a pedagogical aspect.

— Richard Pithouse, Associate Professor at Rhodes University

I think we need to be clear to be level headed but I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that when you have this kind of political violence, we don't really inhabit a democracy. I think it's that serious.

— Richard Pithouse, Associate Professor at Rhodes University

Mnguni agrees. He suggests politics has become less about ideas and substance.

The usage of violence to discredit, disintegrate movements is still very much in us because partly as society we at times do not condemn violence.